Changes in the oral phase of swallowing in children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Objective: To verify the changes in the oral phase of swallowing in children with cerebral palsy. Methods: A quantitative, observational and cross-sectional study developed in the period of June to August, 2006 at NAMI – Núcleo de Atenção Médica Integrada (Integrative Medical Attention Nucleus), in Fortaleza-CE. The sample consisted of 20 children in the age group of 1 year and 6 months to 8 years of chronological age. The children included in the research presented tetraparesis of any type of muscle tonus: spastic, athetosic, mixed or ataxic. The data collection was carried out by means of a speech therapy evaluation protocol broaching aspects regarding the deglutition. Results: It was observed that regardless of the impairment of the swallowing pattern and the clinical type of cerebral palsy, changes in the oral phase of swallowing occur. The findings that most prevailed were: inefficient labial sealing (90.8%) and food cake inadequate capitation (90.8%) and ejection (78.3%). The entire sample (100%) presented a reduced mobility of the tongue; besides the persistence of abnormal reflex activities in 80% of the cases. Conclusion: Changes in the oral phase of swallowing occurred in the whole evaluated sample of children with cerebral palsy, causing impact in the pharynx phase and resulting in clinical signs compatible with oral-tracheal aspiration.